I mean, if, as the Times editorial board argues, “the public sector is not in a position to pay out COLAs right now,” then certainly the public sector is not in a position to hand out 40-percent tax cuts to wealthy, Mercer Island millionaires. Right?

Seems like a fair compromise to me. Your move, Frank.

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But….but…but, the Times employs an increasingly shrinking number of poeple. They are the Job creators. After all, what could be more American than offering tax breaks to companies who decrease the job pool?

I just find it so amusing…the brain-dead asswipes that pass for trolls around here don’t seem to have any fucking idea how much the failed canine assassin and his henchpersons have carried water for the state and national right wing around here (add a funny…had sheriff hairspay been a little better than grossly incompetent Fairview Fanny would not have thrown him under the bus. I guess even the Blethens have uhhhh…standards?).

It’s a real testament to how “in lockstep” the Klown Kontingent of HA are with their ideological masters that they bleat about “liberal press…liberal press” when there is no such thing here.

Second, complain that salary demands are too high, and argue for lower salaries, to be partially offset by COLAs and other deferred compensation, such as pensions or medical plans during retirement. Unions agree – they don’t want strikes either, they agree to sacrifice current income for future benefits.

Third, businesses complain that COLAs are too high, arguing that their business has higher cost/lower profits than economy as a whole, and negotiate fixed COLAs instead of those tied to an economic index. Unions agree again – after all, they don’t want a strike.

Fourth, when it comes time to pay the COLAs, businesses argue that the employees should be greatful that they still have a job, that they are overpaid anyway, and insist that they forego the COLA, abolish the retirement medical plan, and replace the pension with 401(k) plans, mostly financed by the employee’s themselves. It doesn’t matter whether the economy is up or down at that point – they push for it anyway, with only a slight twist in their arguments.

Conclusion: workers who agree to deferred compensation in lieu of current wages will be screwed. Those who make multi-million dollar salaries, bunuses, and huge stock options and other perks will take that deferred compensation any time they can get away with it. And since they have the opportunity to do so every year, they will keep pushing until they succeed.

Maybe the hard-working bus drivers could keep their COLAs if the state doesn’t have to give up inheritance tax revenues from selfish rich pricks like Blethen.

Wingnuts claim inheritance taxes constitute double taxation of money the overtaxed rich worked earned to earn. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Virtually all estates large enough to pay inheritance taxes consist largely of previously untaxed capital gains that would otherwise go forever untaxed thanks to the basis step-up heirs get. Far from being overtaxed, in Washington the rich contribute only one-fifth the percentage of their income to state and local government that the poor pay. And most rich people don’t work hard and didn’t earn their wealth, they either inherited property and businesses from successful ancestors, or got their money from financial or real estate manipulation and speculation (which, whatever it is, isn’t “work”).

I’m willing to cut a deal on inheritance taxes. I’ll agree to abolish inheritance taxes if Republicans agree to abolish the basis step-up and tax the previously untaxed capital gains in multimillion-dollar estates as ordinary income of the heirs. How about it, GOPers? Deal or no deal?

Of course they won’t agree to that, because they believe only the little people should pay taxes and will fight to preserve their special tax privileges.

In 1832 a labor contracted named Phillip Duffy brought 57 Irish laborers to America to help build a railroad in Pennsylvania. The men dug a mile-long cut outside Malvern, 30 miles west of Philadelphia. When the work was completed all 57 men abruptly died. For 178 years, local lore has claimed they were killed by a cholera epidemic that swept through the valley.

Now, researchers, anthropologists, and archaeologists have located their mass grave and recovered some of the remains. The bones show clear evidence of homicidal violence, including blunt force trauma and a bullet hole in one skull.

It’s unclear who killed them or why, but it’s clear they were murdered. Maybe Duffy didn’t want to sign their paychecks and figured he could pocket the payroll himself if nobody showed up at the pay window. Sort of like Republican candidate Low Tax Looper thinking he could waltz unopposed into the Tennessee state senate if he murdered his opponent. Except unlike Duffy, Looper didn’t get away with it.

Roger @ # 6: You are right, of course. But even if there were a stepped-up basis, it doesn’t mean it’s double-taxation.

In virtually every Western society, we use a transaction (transfer between individuals or companies) as the point at which a taxable event is recognized, and the basis for their calculations. This can apply whether it’s a sale, gift, contribution, or inheritance.

There are exceptions to this, of course. Gifts are excepted, except when they get large enough that it’s clear that they are an attempt to avoid other taxes. Contributions to recognized charities are exempted because we want to encourage such contributions. Inheritance is a bit of an oddball, it is taxed in a different manner (the tax is paid by the recipient, the exemptions are very large, and the rate varies between federal and every conceivable rate the states can imagine). This is done largly for political reasons – the lawmakers and influential people tend to be very wealthy and more likely to be subject to the estate tax than the average person.

But there is absolutely no reason why a transfer in the form of an inheritance should be different from any other transfer. When I buy a loaf of bread at the store, everyone along the way has paid a transfer tax of one sort or another on that loaf of bread. Why should Paris Hiltons’ inheritance be any different? SHE didn’t work for it.

The County can keep my cola if Joni Balter will give me a blowjob-but it better be worth the 57 cents I’ll be giving up. I’ll position a photo of Frank Blenthen above my penis to provide the needed stimulus.

Yes Jeff, I do read this blog too. But I sure as hell don’t have any sort of crush on Goldy. Have you ever seen a photo of the guy? He makes Joni look good.

Speaking of limp dick losers at Slog-here’s some excerpts from a good one by Goldie’s limp dick pal Dan Savage when he was auditioning for the Log Cabin Republicans.

Say “YES” to War on Iraq
October 2002
by Dan Savage

“War may be bad for children and other living things, but there are times when peace is worse for children and other living things, and this is one of those times.”

“Because we’re not just at war with al Qaeda, stupid. We’re at war with a large and growing Islamo-fascist movement that draws its troops and funds from all over the Islamic world. Islamo-fascism is a regional problem, not just an al Qaeda problem or an Afghanistan problem. To stop Islamo-fascism, we’re going to have to roll back all of the tyrannous and dictatorial regimes in the Middle East while simultaneously waging war against a militant, deadly religious ideology. To be completely honest, I would actually prefer that the United States go to war against the ridiculous royal family in Saudi Arabia.”

“In the meantime, invading and rebuilding Iraq will not only free the Iraqi people, it will also make the Saudis aware of the consequences they face if they continue to oppress their own people while exporting terrorism and terrorists. The War on Iraq will make it clear to our friends and enemies in the Middle East (and elsewhere) that we mean business: Free your people, reform your societies, liberalize, and democratize… or we’re going to come over there, remove you from power, free your people, and reform your societies for ourselves.”

@5: America was founded by people who didn’t want to be taxed unless they had a voice in how that tax money was spent (i.e., representation in the legislature). With the exception of people in DC, we’ve got that.

Why should today be any different? Because it’s 234 years later.

England must be looking at the mess over here and laughing their asses off. Because they discovered that investments in cycling paid off at a rate of about 3:1 in environmental and health care savings.

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